4.  The applicant was born in 1946 and lives in Bethesda, the United States of America.
5.  The applicant owns a flat in Cavtat, Croatia. In September 1995 Parliament passed a law governing the temporary use of property of persons who had left Croatia - Temporary Takeover and Management of Certain Property Act ( Zakon o privremenom preuzimanju i upravljanju određenom imovinom - hereinafter the “Property Takeover Act”), which allowed municipalities to temporarily accommodate other persons in such property.
6.  In 1992 R., a policeman, forcibly moved into the applicant’s flat in Cavtat, Croatia. On 25 September 1995 the Konavle Housing Commission granted him refugee status and legalised his occupation of the applicant’s flat. On 30 January 2002 the applicant applied to the Housing Commission for repossession of her property.
7.  On 11 January 2002 the applicant instituted civil proceedings before the Dubrovnik Municipal Court seeking R.’s eviction. On 27 February 2002 the claim was declared inadmissible for lack of jurisdiction. The applicant appealed.
8.  On 29 August 2002 the applicant lodged a request with the Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Construction seeking annulment of the decision authorising R. to occupy her flat.
9.  The judgment of the Dubrovnik Municipal Court of 27 February 2002 was quashed by the Dubrovnik County Court on 30 August 2002 and the case was remitted to the Municipal Court for a fresh trial.
10.  On 1 October 2002 the Amendments to the Act on Areas of Special State Care (Zakon o izmjenama i dopunama Zakona o područjima od posebne državne skrbi – “the 2002 Amendments”) entered into force. They transferred the jurisdiction in the matter from the housing commissions (which were abolished) to the Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Construction (Ministarstvo za javne radove, obnovu i graditeljstvo – “the Ministry”).
11.  On 25 October 2003 the Dubrovnik Municipal Court upheld the claim and ordered R.’s eviction. R. appealed.
12.  On 12 December 2003 the Ministry set aside the Property Takeover Commission’s decision authorising R. to occupy the applicant’s flat but also stated that R. had the right to housing under section 7 of the Act on Areas of Special State Concern.
13.  The judgment of the Dubrovnik Municipal Court of 25 October 2003 was quashed by the County Court on 17 February 2005 on the ground that no alternative accommodation had been provided to R. Accordingly, the case was returned to the Municipal Court for further examination. On 12 May 2006 the applicant lodged an application with the Supreme Court complaining about the length of the proceedings. In a letter of 26 May 2006 the Supreme Court instructed the Dubrovnik Municipal Court to speed up the proceedings.
14.  On 31 May 2006 the Municipal Court again granted the applicant’s claim and ordered R.’s eviction. R. appealed against this judgment to the Dubrovnik County Court. While the case was pending there the applicant once more applied to the Supreme Court complaining about the length of the proceedings. In a letter of 11 September 2006 the Supreme Court instructed the County Court to speed up the proceedings and adopt a judgment.
15.  On 2 October 2006 the County Court again quashed the judgment of the Municipal Court and accordingly the latter was once more required to examine the applicant’s claims. In a judgment of 27 March 2007 the Municipal Court, as in its previous judgments, found in favour of the applicant. R. appealed against this judgment and the appeal is at present pending before the Dubrovnik County Court.